Novel zirconia based catalysts for the isomerization of alkanes of petroleum fractions

The data on the study of the formation of phase composition and textural properties of the catalysts based on zirconia promoted by sulphate and tungstate anions and metal cations depended on the composition of catalyst precursors and preparation conditions are presented in the paper. Catalytic activity for the reaction of skeletal isomerization of C4-C7 n-alkanes are evaluated. Sulphated zirconia catalysts are shown to behave high catalytic activity for isomerization of C4-C6 n-alkanes. However, the tungstated zirconia based catalysts were mostly effective for selective isomerization of C6-C7 n-alkanes into branched isomers with high octane numbers.